Two-year-old shot his MUM dead in supermarket after grabbing gun hidden in her handbag

A woman was accidentally shot dead by her toddler son in a Walmart in Hayden, Idaho

Share

Get daily updates directly to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email

A two-year-old boy shot and killed his mum in front of horrified relatives after he grabbed a gun hidden in her purse as they browsed in a supermarket.

The tragedy happened in a branch of American store Wal-Mart as the mum and her son were shopping with three other children.

The 29-year-old mum - who has not been named - was visiting the town of Hayden, Idaho when she was shot.

The boy was sitting in the shopping trolley as the group were in the electronics section of the store.

He is understood to have grabbed the gun from his mum’s purse and fired it, fatally wounding her.

Police and medics rushed to the store after reports of the shooting and found the woman dead at the scene from a gunshot wound.

A spokesman for the Kootenai County Sheriff’s department said: “Preliminary investigation shows that the female was shopping with her two-year-old son and other family members.

“Her son was seated in the shopping cart and accessed the woman’s concealed weapon from her purse and discharged it, striking the victim.”

Reports from the US said the woman did own a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Police said the shooting was accidental and were working to inform mext-of-kin.

The store was closed for the day as forensic experts examined the scene.

A spokesman for Walmart said: “A very sad incident occurred at our store today involving the death of a female customer. We are fully cooperating with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies as they investigate this matter.”

The shooting comes just one month after a woman in Oklahoma was fatally shot by her three-year-old son with a semi-automatic handgun.

Police believe the child picked up the gun while his mother was changing her younger child’s nappy.